History
The band developed its reputation by supporting Hot Hot Heat and Interpol. NME editor Connor McNicholas said, "My first contact with Franz Ferdinand was when someone was playing the Darts of Pleasure demos, in the NME office, and it was genuinely one of those moments when a track goes on and I come bundling out of my office saying 'what the hell is this because this is amazing'". It was therefore no surprise the band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004 (announced in late 2003). Furthermore, the NME described the band as "The Next Big Thing" and featured the band on the front cover describing them as "The Band That Will Change Your Life".
The single was received well with Pitchfork Media giving it a rating of 8.3. Allmusic gave it 3.5 stars and the NME gave a very enthusiastic response. "Darts of Pleasure" was released on 8 September 2003. With the release Franz were acclaimed as "the saviours of rock and roll" by John Peel who gave them airtime.
It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 44 on 15 September 2003, where it stayed for one week before dropping out of the chart all together. Nonetheless, the band were happy with its chart performance, commenting "we couldn't believe we were in the UK top 50."
Read more about this topic: Darts Of Pleasure
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